Ken Burns: Pete Rose belongs in Hall of Fame, but there's a catch

Filmmaker Ken Burns has added a new chapter to his documentary, "Baseball." And, in promoting the film, he delivered a high, hard one to the considerable chin of the sport's disgraced all-time hits leader Pete Rose.

Burns, chief groundskeeper for the "emerald chessboard" crowd, spoke of his feelings about whether Rose should be in the Hall of Fame at the Television Critics Association press tour Wednesday. Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle scooped up the comment and fired it out on Twitter:

A two-part, four-hour addendum to "Baseball," which ran in 1994, "The Tenth Inning" deals with the '94 strike, interleague play and performance-enhancing drugs. It will be shown Sept. 28 and 29 on PBS.

That's a pretty crucial stance for Ken Burns to take. I don't know that I disagree, but were I in Ken's position, I don't know that I'd announce it in an interview with the press. Not the standard definition of "staying classy."

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